Shendi:A drone attack on an electricity substation in Shendi, a city in northern Sudan, led to a complete blackout early Friday. Eyewitnesses reported to Anadolu that explosions were heard, and smoke was visible rising from the facility located in River Nile state.

According to Anadolu Agency – English, the incident in Shendi is part of a series of drone attacks targeting Sudan's energy infrastructure. Recent strikes have also affected the Umm Dabakir thermal power station in White Nile state and the Kadugli power station in South Kordofan state. Videos shared by activists on social media depict a fire at the Shendi site, though Sudanese authorities have yet to comment on the attack or assess the extent of the damage.

Earlier in the week, the Al-Managil power station and other sites in central Gezira state were targeted by drones, resulting in power cuts to the city. The Energy and Petroleum Ministry of Sudan reported widespread outages in multiple states including Khartoum and River Nile, attributing these disruptions to a drone strike that took a power station offline. The ministry has accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of orchestrating these attacks.

The Sudan Electricity Holding Company has also accused the RSF of targeting five electricity substations across Sennar, Gedaref, and Gezira states. Throughout the ongoing conflict, which began in April 2023 due to military integration disputes, the RSF has been frequently blamed for attacking civilian infrastructure. Although the RSF claims to focus on protecting civilians, they typically do not respond to such allegations.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of approximately 13 million people, exacerbating an already severe humanitarian and hunger crisis in the country.